Daily Links Jun 13

Post of the Day

An urgent reminder of why we need new national nature laws

Jenita Enevoldsen

On the same day that the state of Victoria announced native forest logging would end within a year, the Northern Territory government officially rolled out the red carpet to large-scale cotton irrigators and beef producers, to expand land clearing and deforestation across 100,000 hectares.

On This Day

June 13

Anthony of Padua Feast Day – Spain, Portugal

Climate Change

Fossil fuel firms’ net zero plans ‘largely meaningless’

The number of fossil fuel companies setting net-zero emissions targets has risen sharply over the past year, but most fail to address key concerns, making them “largely meaningless”, a report has found.

Will wildfire smoke affect public opinion on climate change and air quality?

After the fires burn out and the smoke dissipates, will people still care as much about rising temperatures? And will that concern translate into action? To an extent, sure. But public opinion research on this is surprisingly murky.

Be angry about the wildfire pollution – but be angry at the right people

Kate Aronoff

A poisonous haze made the air over New York temporarily more hazardous than any other place on Earth. Thank fossil fuel billionaires

National

Tasmania wind farms do best in May, Queensland dominates solar rankings

Listen of Top 20 wind and solar farms in month of May shows the wind blows in Tasmania and the sun shines in Queensland.

Our homes are sinking: Islanders take Australia to court over impacts of climate change

The Federal Court will hold on-country hearings on the island of Saibai in the Australian Climate Case on Monday.

Google AI put to the test in bid to track threatened cockatoos

QUT, Australian Acoustics Observatory and Google are working together to build a system that can crunch thousands of hours of recorded animal calls in minutes.

Carbon credit plan sends miners, airlines back to square one [$]

The Albanese government has scrapped months of taxpayer-funded work into new carbon credit eligibility criteria for mine wastes, hydrogen and carbon-neutral fuels.

Labor ‘greenwashing’ climate record with bid to host international summit: report [$]

Anton Nilsson

Hosting COP31 with Pacific neighbours would amount to ‘rewarding Australia for decades of recalcitrance’, the Australia Institute says.

How should we teach climate change in schools? It starts with ‘turbo charging’ teacher education

Russell Tytler and Peter Freebody

The case for action on climate change no longer needs to be laid out.

Global copper shortage to smash net-zero, EV push [$]

Robert Gottliebsen

Australia will soon discover the great carbon emission-reduction plans devised by politicians simply won’t be achieved without unbearable pain to voters.

Victoria

Free fishing rods for private schools is a hook critics say is out of line

Every grade five student in Victoria is to receive a free fishing rod and tackle box. But why are Victorian taxpayers footing the bill for fishing kits for private school students?

Hail the matchmaker: The market stall uniting uncoupled containers and lost lids

Amelia Trompf has made it her mission to keep plastics out of landfill, and she has a hit on her hands with a volunteer-run stall that reunites stray pieces of kitchenware.

Victoria’s clean energy transition ‘to create 10,000 jobs a year’ [$]

Victoria’s energy transition will create 10,000 jobs a year until 2030, says skills minister Gayle Tierney, but building this workforce will be a challenge.

ACT

New wind farm could power 71,000 ACT homes a year [$]

A new wind farm in Victoria that will provide electricity to the ACT is now in operation, Energy Minister Shane Rattenbury has announced.

Queensland

South African miner adds to green portfolio with New Century tailings project acquisition

Sibayne Stillwater sets up shop in Australia citing a “robust and high-quality mining industry” and strong opportunities as it shifts to green energy.

Queensland’s population scales could tip towards Brisbane this decade

New projections attempt to chart population growth into the second half of the century. But a major tipping point is coming sooner.

South Australia

SA icons in sustainability push [$]

Two of the state’s iconic family-owned brands have unveiled new sustainability targets as the decarbonisation push across industries accelerates.

Tasmania

The changing public mood about climate

Peter Boyer

This morning a group of senior citizens is meeting in Bridgewater to consider what climate change means for Tasmania in 2023. 

Northern Territory

‘Fish are safe to eat’: Mine boss’ promise to Traditional Owners

New MRM boss Mark Furlotte has come a long way to lead one of the NT’s biggest businesses. He outlines the priorities for the company, and its path forward.

Land councils say lack of consultation on NT agriculture strategy undermines rights

As debate ramps up around a Voice to Parliament, which aims to give First Nations Australians a say in government policy, Central Land Council CEO Les Turner says it is “a strong point” that the NT government has not sought out land councils’ views.

Western Australia

Farmers, Traditional Owners want new cultural heritage laws delayed

There is concern from both the farming and First Nations communities as Western Australia prepares for new Aboriginal cultural heritage legislation to come into effect.

Santos wells have been leaking gas into the ocean off WA for a decade

The company says the wells off the Pilbara coast cannot be fixed, but the environment regulator’s position is that indefinite leaking is “unacceptable”.

Locals a giant help in tree-planting event

 A group of locals braved the winter weather to participate in a Giants of Mandurah rehabilitation project at Marlee Reserve on Saturday.

Sustainability

A day in the life: Researchers have worked out an average 24 hours for a human in the 21st century

With only 24 hours in a day, researchers have crunched the numbers and worked out what the average global human day looks like.

As the US becomes more divided, companies find they can’t appeal to everyone

Younger people believe companies have social responsibilities, while conservatives say they should stay out of politics – and the fight won’t end soon.

Fossil fuels now account for less than half of China’s power capacity

Thanks to a growing buildout of renewable power, fossil fuels now account for less than half of China’s total installed power capacity, state media said Monday.

Hydrogen’s dirty secret: Leaks could have 12-times impact on global warming than CO2

Study says leaked hydrogen could have global warming impact 12-times stronger than CO2, highlighting need to prevent leakages during production, transportation, and usage.

Nature Conservation

Detection dogs taught newt tricks in bid to improve conservation

Springer spaniel trained to recognise scent of great crested newt with 87% success rate from distance of 2 metres

Illegal reintroductions of rare butterflies to UK ‘a risk to other species’

Conservation scientists warn releases of rare or extinct species may spread diseases and harm attempts to save other butterflies

‘Things not going well’: plan to return cheetahs to India under fire after six die within months

Project to reintroduce big cat to the wild set back by loss of adults and cubs at reserve

Western Canada covered in smoke as wildfires loosen grip on Quebec

Smoke shrouded Western Canada on Monday as wildfires flared again in the main oil-producing province of Alberta, while firefighters in Quebec doused some of the worst early season blazes, allowing thousands of evacuees to return home.

SeaWorld aims to save Florida’s reefs by storing corals’ best genes

SeaWorld Orlando’s new Coral Rescue Center, unveiled Friday, aims to preserve Florida corals that are collapsing under a mysterious disease.

World Ocean Day: How much plastic is in our oceans?

On World Ocean Day, Al Jazeera visualises what 10 million tonnes of plastic released into the ocean annually looks like.

Bioshield: a nature-based solution to climate change

A nature-based solution to climate change, bioshield is a plantation of mangrove and non-mangrove species on the seaside.

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